We walked through the night with crampons on firm snow, traversing the
extremely crevassed Ingraham Glacier (see later photos) and then climbing
bare rock and scree on Disappointment Cleaver up to 12000 ft. Looking
down at Camp Muir after midnight , we could see a long train of headlamps
snaking out of camp across the Cowlitz Glacier. Since we were out ahead of
all other groups, we didn't have to worry about them accidentally kicking
rockfall onto us, which is a common hazard on the Cleaver. After leaving
the rock we followed the right edge of the Ingraham past the top of the
Cleaver to 12800 ft, then traversed far to the left (southwest) to avoid
seracs and the huge bergschrund crevasse above. This detour extended over
half a mile, and we finallly ascended the upper Nisqually Glacier to the
summit dome. We reached the southeast gap in crater rim (14180 ft) at
5:30 AM, finally permitting a photograph in the first light of dawn.
All nine of us had made it up Rainier successfully!